I recently rediscovered an old fiberglass fly rod that a former coleague of mine gave me about 25 years ago when I was just starting into fly fishing. I have never used the rod; I never even "strung it up" to see how it would cast, etc.. I tried the rod. The balance with a "standard" 3.25" milled aluminum reel is bad. The rod is heavy, and the action quite slow, but it does throw a good loop a good distance, which I find surprising. It appears to be a 6 wt (the line weight I used when trying it out.)

The rod is a two piece 8' "Cal Royal" rod manufactured by California Tackle Co., Huntington Park, CA. A Google check got me no where.

Who knows what about this old rod? Pat

Dont know anything about that particular rod but the California Tackle Co.
used to make the line of rods & blanks they callled "Sabre" at the time
IMHO they were the best I could find.



Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

The first place I would look is in the book "Fiberglass Fly Rods", by Johnson & Johnson. If I remember, I will look it up for you when I get home.

i happen to have the johnson book here at the office. scott rod company aquired its early fiberglass blanks first from lamiglas and then from californina tackle company( aka sabre). i don't know if the particlular rod you have was made to the scott standards. chances are its good stuff. most of these old glass blanks were made with polyester resins which do not have the strength of epoxy but they could still be good casters at normal fishing distances. i love glass as a fly rod material as long as i don't get over 8'. it is slower recovery rate than graphite. many of the old glass rods could cast just the leader because they would load rather easily and yet power out to 60 feet if you had to. i have fished mostly glass for a couple of years. the key to good casting with old glass is to find an old reel that will balance it. not always easy. as rods get longer than 8' glass becomes a chore and graphite is a much better alternative.

clean it up. make sure the guides are not groooved, put a line like a cortland sylk on it and go fishing. you might be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks for your imput Larry. I have a very recently overhauled 7' Garcia fiberglass spinning rod that I like to use. I have had this rod for about 43 years. Its action at the tip is soft, and it casts small lures very well. I hope this California Tackle rod will be as nice when casting 14-18 size dries. I will definitely need a heavier reel to balance this outfit and I'll certainly get a sylk line for this rod and give'r a whirl at the local lake.

Patrick Marshall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ... and I'll
> certainly get a sylk line for this rod and give'r
> a whirl at the local lake.


You might want to rethink the Sylk line idea if you're planning to use it for warmwater fishing. The Sylk lines tend to stick in the guides. They are intended strictly for coldwater. My personal choice would be a Sci. Angler Air Cel Supreme 2.

Your point about the sylk being for colder water is a good point. i am really not a warm water fisherman so my only experinece is with cold creeks.
you might also want to try a hook and hacle high floater. one of the best deals out there.